Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Chevron At War With Canada Supreme Court; Company Also Faces Accusations of Terrorism and Tax Evasion

As Chevron faces a potential litigation catastrophe over its $10 billion pollution liability in Ecuador, we have decided to publish a news summary from the front lines of the historic battle by indigenous communities to hold the company accountable for its "Amazon Chernobyl" disaster.

We understand that we might have a space problem given the ample material related to Chevron's unethical litigation practices, payments to witnesses, and other fraudulent shenanigans taking place under the regime of current CEO John Watson (annual compensation: $25 million) and his sidekick, Chevron General Counsel R. Hewitt Pate. But we will try.

Here is our first installment of The Chevron Chronicles:

Chevron violating Canada Supreme Court decision: Chevron's arrogance and the moral bankruptcy of its "perpetual litigation" strategy under Watson's leadership is now on full display in Canada. The villagers last week demonstrated in a new legal filing that Chevron yet again is defying a Canada Supreme Court order granting them jurisdiction to try to seize company assets to pay for their $10 billion judgment. Despite the Supreme Court order, Chevron for the fourth time has filed legal papers to nullify jurisdiction. The company now faces the nullification of its defenses given that it already litigated them (and lost) in Ecuador, where it insisted the trial be held. For background, see here; for the Canada Supreme Court decision against Chevron, see here.

Chevron is now 0-18 among appellate judges in Canada and Ecuador: As further proof that Chevron views courts as little more than pawns in a larger strategy to win by might what it can't win by merit, the company has now lost before all 18 appellate judges in Canada and Ecuador who have heard the case. Using some of the 60 law firms and 2,000 lawyers Chevron has retained to fight the villagers, the company is still trying to re-litigate many of the same issues (including jurisdiction) already decided by the 18 appellate judges. As Alan Lenczner, the Canadian lawyer for the villagers, said in his latest filing: "Deep pockets against the resources of indigenous people in the Ecuadorian Amazon and repeated, interminable delay until 'hell freezes over' are Chevron's weapons." Chevron's desperation in Canada is so palpable that the company enlisted the notorious convicted felon Conrad Black to serve as a spokesman for its cause.

Chevron charged with providing material support to terrorists: Chevron's propensity to put profits in front of people in Ecuador -- which ended up causing numerous deaths from cancer -- are just the tip of the iceberg. Several victims of terrorism sued Chevron in California last October for financing a Saddam Hussein slush fund that was used by the Iraqi government to reward the families of suicide bombers targeting Israeli civilians. Chevron already paid a $30 million fine to the U.S. government for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in Iraq. The latest civil lawsuit alleges: "Due, in part, to Chevron's substantial assistance, Saddam Hussein had the means to finance and direct over twenty separate acts of violent terrorist attacks inflicting death, disfigurement, and lasting psychological trauma and pain upon plaintiffs, eighteen U.S. nationals and over 300 foreign nationals then living in Israel."

Chevron's fraud in Ecuador proven by whistleblower video: The explosive Chevron whistleblower video that shows company scientists trying to defraud Ecuador's courts continues to gain traction. The video has now been viewed more than 2 million times on the Internet and does more than anything to illustrate how the devious company uses obfuscation to hide the truth about its toxic legacy. Combined with the stunning admission by the company's star witness that he lied in open court, Chevron now faces a major uphill battle in Canada even under the best of circumstances.

Chevron faces allegations of tax evasion in Australia and fraud in Tennessee: In Australia-- where Chevron is the largest foreign investor -- a stunning new report details how how the company has become a tax cheat extraordinaire. Chevron has been ripping off the Australian government by stashing its earnings in a subsidiary in Delaware and using other paper financial transactions to drain profits out of the country to reduce its tax payments. As business columnist Michael West wrote, "Secretive oil major Chevron Corp has taken the art of tax avoidance to its ultimate form thanks to a scheme so aggressive that it goes beyond merely reducing exposure to income tax, but rather, has been designed to make a profit from the Australian Tax Office."

Separately, the Attorney General of Tennessee sued Chevron for fraudulently siphoning $250 million from a state environmental clean-up fund. A 2009 report from award-winning journalist Antonia Juhasz documented Chevron's environmental problems in dozens of countries around the world

Of course, an oil company like Chevron does not run into trouble with the law so frequently unless it is management's policy to see what it can get away with. As it is doing in Canada to evade paying the Ecuador pollution judgment, Chevron is playing a cynical game with courts and regulators. If this was a fair world, Chevron's executives would face prison for their horrific acts.

Instead, for being the Dick Cheney-esque mastermind behind this subterfuge, Chevron's General Counsel Pate reaps millions of dollars per year in compensation while the company's victims around the world suffer illness and death. Most of Chevron's Board puts up with Watson and Pate by turning a blind eye to these repeated acts of wrongdoing.

Judges and regulators need to connect the dots and take notice of the full range of Chevron's wrongdoing around the world. Only then will they not fall prey to the company's cynical and manipulative jurisdictional shell game.

Courts also must reprimand Chevron like any other abusive litigant trying to use its superior resources to evade its moral and legal responsibilities to those it has harmed.

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About This Blog

For over three decades, Chevron chose profit over people in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The cold and calculated decision to save $3 per barrel and yet poison entire communities is compounded daily as Chevron continues its PR campaign to suppress the truth and barrage the media with lies about its actions and responsibility. This blog is part of an ever-growing campaign to counter Chevron's misinformation tactics and speak frankly about their attempts to hide their role in the world's worst oil-related disaster.